The previous biography for a child of Cordelia, William D. Tapscott, was short. This is even shorter. Elizabeth Tapscott, Cordelia's fourth child, is easily biographed since we have already done so. She married John Robert Martin, one of Maria Ann Tapscott's children, Elizabeth’s first cousin, and someone previously the subject of a blog.
We are going through Cordelia’s children, as we did those of her sister Maria Ann, but you may have noticed that I skipped someone when I went directly from James Tasco Tapscott to Murray Selby Tapscott. Cordelia’s second child, William D. Tapscott is easily skipped since we know so little about him and he left no known descendants.
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| William grew up near Cedar Run. (Ctizens for Fauquier County) |
Do you know anything about William, son of Cordelia? If so, contact me or leave a comment.
Murray Tapscott, Cordelia's third child and claimed to have Mark Russell as his father, has a middle name, “Selby,” that has been found in no record contemporary with him. But that name is claimed factual by many of his descendants. His death certificate gives a Fauquier Co date of birth of 5 May 1874, but this is obviously incorrect. He would have been eleven years old when he was married. Other records, in particular the 1900 census, indicate that his date of birth was actually 5 May 1865. It is said that he started his adult life as “an itinerant evangelist, but eventually became pastor of Little Zion Baptist Church.” Tapscotts have connections to this Nokesville, VA, church. Murray’s daughter Geneva is buried there. But reliable records or sources (e.g., close relatives) have not yet been found showing his roles as evangelist and pastor.
On 9 Sep 1885 Murray obtained a license in DC to marry Katherine
Bell Colvin. Katherine, who nearly always went by “Kate” or “Katie,” had been
born 2 Feb 1869 to James Colvin and Aletha “Pehn.” Aletha, who sometimes went by her mother’s
name “Penn,” was Aletha Ann Preston, and she and James were also the parents of
James Tasco Tapscott’s first wife, Mary E. Colvin.
Murray and Kate lived out their lives in Fauquier Co, where they
had thirteen children: Bertha Mae (9 Apr 1886-16 Apr 1957), Douglas Robert (7 May 1889-31 Oct 1960), Mary
Elinor (14 Jul 1891-30 Jul 1963), James Murray (19 Mar 1893-10 Jul 1982), Pearl Katie (2 Apr 1895-11 Oct 1944) Ida
McKinley (11 Nov 1896-25 Apr 1985) George Gilbert (28 Jun 1898-4 Jun 1960), Alethia
Elizabeth (23 Jul 1899-15 Jul 1964), Nannie B. (c1903-17 Jun 1960), Geneva
Alyce (1 Feb 1906-8 Nov 1977), John Harnsburger (18 Jan 1908-17 Aug 1967), Selby
Samuel (23 Jul 1909-25 May 1981), Pauline Adelia (10 Jul 1913- 2 Mar 1987). In
several cases, birth years do not agree with years on death records or grave
markers; however, such records are not reliable for birth dates and other records
give a more reliable or more realistic birth year.
Please let me know of mistakes, suggestions, comments, and additional information. And have you seen a reliable source (not someone's family tree) for Murray Tapscott's middle name? Do you know of a record showing that Murray was once a pastor of Little Zion Church or that he was an evangelist?
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| SS Stuttgart. |
Katharina, whose name was Anglicized to “Katharine,” “Catharine,” “Catherine,” etc., and James had four children: George Washington, Catherine M., William Thomas, and Nellie Virginia.
Born 22 Feb 1896 in DC, their first child, George, who never married, died 23 Jan 1970 in Berea, VA. George, who was first a farmer and then a truck driver, served in WWI in Co D, 56th Pioneer-Infantry, which took part in the bloodiest battle ever fought by the U.S. Army–the Meuse Argonne, fought 26 Sep 1918 to 11 Nov 1918.
Catherine, who was born 16 Apr 1897 in DC and married Eli Dzidich, a Yugoslavian immigrant, died 29 Feb 1988 in Vienna, VA. Eli was born 15 Jul 1896, but we know nothing about his death. Catherine and Eli had no known children.
William Thomas, often called “Willie,” was born 24 Jul 1898 in
Virginia (his death certificate erroneously gives DC as his birthplace) and
died 26 Nov 1971 in Fredericksburg, VA. He was married twice, first to Alma
Shelton on 13 Dec 1926 in Rockville, MD, in a childless marriage that was
annulled 19 May 1944 in Alexandria, VA. Apparently, Alma’s divorce from an
earlier husband was not finalized when she married William. William’s second
marriage was to Grace Garner Bryant on 16 May 1946 in DC. Grace’s birth name was “Lunsford,” but she had
married Linwood E. Bryant earlier on 17 Feb 1930. That marriage, which had resulted
in two children, had ended in divorce 3 Dec 1943. William’s marriage with Grace also resulted in two children.
Nellie Virginia, James Tasco Tapscott’s final child, was born 10 Jun 1912, when James was well into middle age. Nellie is first seen in the 1920 census for Prince William Co, VA, in the household of Jacob Hook, without her father (found in a separate record) but with her mother, who was working as a housekeeper for Hook. Then in 1930 Nellie appears in the same household, still with her mother, but with the name “Nellie Hook.” She is said to be Jacob Hook’s “adopted daughter.” James had died the preceding year. Nellie reverted to the name “Tapscott,” in October 1941, when she obtained a license in Rockville, Maryland, to marry Alfred Russell Crumbaugh. Nellie Virginia Crumbaugh passed away on 9 Jun 1999 in Fairfax Co, VA. There is no evidence that she had any children.
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| Children of James Tasco Tapscott, c 1900: Ruth, George, Catherine (“Kate”), and William (“Willie”). Nellie had not yet been born. (AAHA Photo Collection.) |
James Tasco Tapscott departed this life 8 May 1929 in Coles Distr, Prince
William Co, VA, where he had a farm. His widow, Catharine, lived considerably longer, dying
5 May 1958 in Falls Church, Virginia, where she had been living with her daughter
Nellie and Nellie’s husband, Alfred.
Errors? Disagreements? Additions? Questions? Please post them on this page as a comment, or email me. I welcome input.
James Tasco Tapscott, Cordelia's first-born child, was born in Fauquier County 4 Sep 1856, While the name “Tasco” is extremely rare, it is not unknown, though it is more often seen as a surname, rather than as a given name. And the name is found among inhabitants of Fauquier County. James’s name is also seen as “Tascon” and “Tascow” in census records, probably owing to enumerator error. Many family historians have assigned him the name “Tasker,” even though James is seen in no contemporary record with that name.
On 27 Apr 1892 in Fauquier County, “Jas T. Tapscott” married Mary E. Colvin, daughter of James and “Aleatha.” Performing the ceremony was Mark Russell, who had married Cordelia’s cousin, Mary Frances Tapscott, and who, it is claimed, fathered several of Cordelia’s children.
James Tasco Tapscott and Mary Colvin had but one known child, Ruth Winford
Tapscott. Born 23 May 1893 in Fauquier Co, Ruth married Harvey Ellsworth Redmon
on 6 Nov 1915 in the District of Columbia. Harvey, whose ancestors were
probably named “Redmon,” but whose six known children were given the name “Redman,”
died in Manassas, VA, on 18 Nov 1946. Ruth lived to age 90, passing away in
Woodbridge, VA, on 5 May 1984.
Our next blog will look at James Tasco’s second marriage.
We have spent several weeks reviewing the history of Harriet’s firstborn daughter, Maria Ann Tapscott. Now it’s time to do the same for Harriet’s only other known child, Cordelia Tapscott.
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| Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier Co. |
In 1860 Cordelia was living in Fauquier with her mother, Harriet, and Cordelia’s first-born known child, Tasco. Also in the household is 30-year John Tapscott. John and Cordelia appear with Harriet in the 1860 census with ages that correspond to a birth year c1830 for John (listed as a laborer) and c1835 for Cordelia (listed as a weaver). Some people assume John to be a son of Harriet, but it is far more likely that he was Cordelia’s paramour. Strong evidence of this is in Tasco’s death certificate, which gives his parents as John and Adelia. John may well have been one of Elizabeth’s slaves, now in Harriet’s household. If so, “Tapscott” was probably an assumed surname. We do not see John again.
Have any of you descendants of Cordelia found records or other evidence indicating that Mark Russell fathered some of Cordelia's children?
In a much earlier post, we discussed James and Elizabeth---James Tapscott and Elizabeth Percifull. James died young, leaving Elizabeth in Fauquier County with just her kids. She would soon have more. Immediately after that earlier post we should have posted something about Elizabeth without James. But we didn't. Let's do it now.
It is shocking to see that in Fauquier County, Elizabeth owned slaves. In the 1840 census, her household included six male slaves and two female slaves. Some of the male slaves were almost certainly Elizabeth’s paramours. In addition, the 1840 census shows both free white and free colored people in the household, primarily Elizabeth’s children and grandchildren. Under Virginia law, the slave status of a child followed that of the mother (doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem). Offspring of Elizabeth would have been born free, whether the fathers were slaves or not. The numbers and age distributions of the free occupants are almost exactly what would be predicted:
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| 1840 Fauquier County Census, Elizabeth's Household |
Only the free colored males show a discrepancy from what is expected, likely because the oldest, William, had moved out. By 1840, Elizabeth’s son Telem Plato was married and living in a separate household. And her son Robert Frances was living in Warrenton, probably in the blacksmith shop of James Mclearen. More on Robert Frances, later.
Elizabeth, who arrived in Fauquier County around 1810 apparently lived out her life there, dying sometime between 1850, when she appears in the census, and 1860, when she is missing from the census.
